Locals react to death of Osama bin Laden

The scene in Washington, D.C. Sunday night after President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed was "just crazy," said Mathews County native Scott Sadler.

Now a Washington, D.C. resident and employee of a government intelligence contractor, Sadler said he and two friends decided to go to the White House and join the celebrants who gathered there around midnight Sunday after the announcement was made.

On the way, he said, people driving along the roads were honking their horns and waving to each other, and when he and his friends got to the White House, they were overwhelmed by the number of people they saw.

"I’ve never seen a crowd like that around the White House," said Sadler. "I could not believe it."

There were so many people on their cell phones, and so many using Twitter, that cell phone service was slow, said Sadler, and "it was crazy to keep up with all the status updates."

Many of those gathered outside the gates of the White House were George Washington University students, said Sadler, and they were climbing trees and standing on each others’ shoulders and jubilantly waving flags.

"The whole Lafayette Park was jammed," he said. "It was almost like a riot, but it was a celebration."